Commuters will see ‘improvements’ at London Bridge station

Commuters can expect a ‘clear improvement’ to rail services from London Bridge – according to Network Rail bosses.

Delays to services caused by a ‘major’ re signalling project at the station have prompted outrage from disgruntled passengers. Some commuters have even been forced to crawl under ticket barriers at the London station during rush hour.

Sir Nicholas Soames contacted Network Rail to discuss the situation, which he described as ‘pathetic and hopeless’.

In a letter of reply, Alisdair Coates, Network Rail Route Managing Director for the south east, admitted there had been ‘teething problems’.

“The failure of the new equipment at London Bridge has been disappointing, and I fully understand the concerns of you and your constituents,” he said.

“When undertaking a major re signalling project of this size, it is often the case that teething problems occur.

When undertaking a major re signalling project of this size, it is often the case that teething problems occur.

Alisdair Coates, Network Rail

“Clearly we work very hard to prevent these, but we have not managed to do this fully at London Bridge.”

Mr Coates identified two reasons for the failures at the station, which involved a new type of track circuit which detects trains and issues with points equipment which controls the movement of trains between tracks, adding they were now being ‘corrected and monitored’.

He said Network Rail understands this is ‘little consolation’ to passengers disrupted by the failures and accepted Network Rail has a ‘long way to go to rebuild passengers’ trust in the service’.

“In summary, I believe we have now got to the bottom of the reliability issues and will now see a clear improvement in the coming months.

“I can only apologise for the delay your constituents have suffered to their journeys.”